The familiar voice of Jim Nantz can be heard regularly on the CBS Sports promotional pitch: “The Masters: A tradition unlike any other.”

His voice is appropriate.

The high-profile Nantz has his own 28-year tradition — geographically and emotionally moving directly from the Monday night Final Four event to the lead broadcasting role of the Masters later in the week.

On Tuesday he’ll travel the 162 miles from Atlanta to Augusta (“almost a bicycle ride”) to prepare for coverage of the prestigious golf tournament.

“I’ve been blessed … fortunate … whatever … to have been involved in these two major events for such a long time,” Nantz said in a phone interview from Atlanta.

His most memorable journeys ?

“Off the top of my head, I recall 1986 when I was a rookie on CBS Sports, coming over from KSL-TV in Salt Lake City. I was the Final Four studio host when Brent Musburger and Billy Packer covered the games.

“Louisville beat Duke 72-69, Louisville’s first Final Four appearance and Coach K’s first title game as Blue Devils coach. (Jay Bilas, ESPN’s notable basketball announcer, played for Duke.)

“It was a great game … and life for me got even greater when I flew from Dallas to Augusta to cover Jack Nicklaus’ sixth Masters championship. “

Nantz became the Final Four lead play-by-play man in 1991. His second-favorite basketball-golf combo was in 1997.

“Arizona beat Kentucky 84-79 in overtime, another great game,” he said. “The next day, I hopped a flight from Indianapolis to Augusta.

“Little did I know that on the following Sunday I would present the green jacket to a 21-year-old named Tiger Woods — his first Masters championship.

“I could probably spend all afternoon reliving the 27-year memories about my Final Four-Masters connection. There’s been something special each year about the two events.”

“I hope I’ll never again broadcast a game that produces a sickening sight like what happened to Kevin Ware, ” he said. “I’m proud of the way our entire CBS crew covered the tragedy. We used restraint by not reshowing the horrific scene on the floor. And yet we did our job by covering the agonizing emotions of Rick Pitino, the Louisville players and the stricken fans in the stands.

“You can’t plan ahead for something like that during a pregame production meeting. You just follow your basic human and professional instincts.”

In retrospect, Nantz acknowledges that Ware’s injury could have produced a different game scenario. Louisville could have been shell-shocked and played the rest of the way in negative fashion, allowing Duke to stay close — perhaps even win.

“I also found the game to be a bit ironic, since my first NCAA Tournament coverage featured Louisville and Duke in the finals,” Nantz said.

Nantz expects to be a regular Denver visitor this fall during CBS’s NFL coverage, because he and Phil Simms are the network’s No. 1 team.

“The Broncos, with Peyton Manning, should be very competitive again,” he said.

The sight of the Nuggets’ Danilo Gallinari, sprawled on he floor and writhing in pain at the Pepsi Center, was another reminder that basketball is anything but a “safe game.”

On the positive side was Root Sports’ colorful looks at Rockies hitting coach Dante Bichette during the three games in Milwaukee.

Bichette, wearing a wool cap and a heavy coat — and sporting a beard — resembled a mountain man as he leaned against the dugout fence, taking notes.

Dusty Saunders writers about sports media each Monday in The Denver Post. Contact him at tvtime@comcast.net

Weekend TV sports was horn of plenty

Local members of the Armchair Sportsthumb Society had a busy night Saturday.

Four major athletic contests crowded the network and cable channels at the same time.

CBS broadcast the Louisville-Wichita State and Michigan-Syracuse Final Four matchups, while Altitude’s two channels aired the Avalanche’s loss to the Phoenix Coyotes and the Nuggets’ win over the Houston Rockets.

Over on Root Sports, the Rockies downed the San Diego Padres.

Actually there were five conflicting events if you count the Miami Heat’s win over the Philadelphia 76ers on ESPN. LeBron James’ fans follow his court magic regardless of the competitive sports schedule.

Another locally oriented sports conflict started at 2 p.m. Sunday when KCNC-4 began airing the Metro State-Drury battle for the NCAA Division II basketball championship while the Rockies-Padres game began on Root Sports.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Tyreek Hill didn’t know what to do when he started hearing thousands of people in Arrowhead Stadium chanting his name, even as he stood all alone on the frozen turf waiting for the punt.